First Impression: [Eps 1 & 2] Okaasan, Musume o Yamete Ii desu ka?

 

Does mother know best? A complex-relationship story between an overbearing mother and her daughter, whose entire life has been controlled by her and is now trying to break free from her mother. 

 

From the start, the daughter: Mizuki Hayase (Haru) and her mother: Aikiko (Yuki Saito), seem to be very close, like two best friends. They have similar likes/dislikes and they never fight over anything. But at the core, Mizuki is only agreeing to what her mother wants to avoid confrontation. Like, when they go furniture shopping to buy a couch for their new home. when Mizuki finds something that she likes, but takes notice that when her mother touches her face, it’s a sign that she doesn’t like it. So, every decision that she makes from the clothes she wears and other personal tastes, it has to be approved by her mother.      

The simplest answer to Mizuki’s problem is why not just move out and live on her own terms. But all her life, she has become very dependent on her mother, so maybe she’s afraid to hurt her feelings. Also, she has no friends to get help from and she feels alone, and trapped under her mother’s control.

This is where Matsushima (Yuya Yagira) comes in. He is a home builder who is in charge of designing their new home for the Hayase family to move in. He takes an interest to date Mizuki and her mother “Okayed it,” even though she’s not that into him. Matsushima notices that her mother is influencing her on all of her decision making. When she discovers that her mother is stalking her while on a date, that’s when she finally had enough and decides to take her life into her own hands.

Mizuki continues to see Matsushima against her mother’s wishes. She slowly warms up to him because he is willing to listen to her problems that she has. Unlike her mother, who doesn’t understand how she’s feeling. She’s starts to distance herself from her mother. Akiko is worried that this relationship is going to become more serious and she will do whatever she can to keep her daughter close to her. But I am more worried about the mother’s mental state. Is she going to flip out/go crazy? Is she going to find ways to sabotage her daughter’s happiness? Or, perhaps… murder someone?  

An obvious metaphor.

I have one theory about why the mother might be over protected of her daughter. (I’m also watching this without subs, so I’m not sure if my understanding is correct or not).  They did mention that she wanted to become a teacher, instead she’s a doll-maker. But Mizuki is an English teacher. So, I wonder if the mother is projecting her unattainable desires onto her daughter. And,why did Mizuki became a teacher in the first place?

Other crazy theories that I have just to make the show more watchable, I am suspicious of the father, Koji (Yasufumi Terawaki), and Matsushima. The father knows what’s going on, but he doesn’t interfere with the drama happening between his wife and daughter. Maybe, he doesn’t know how to step in or maybe he’s planning on something to break them up. As for Matsushima, we don’t know anything about him. All we know is that at a young age, his parents divorced, and he has never been close to his own mother. I wonder if he secretly has a mother complex. Are the these two conspiring together?

 

This scene is like something out of a Hitchcock movie.

Also, Yuya, what are you doing here? I know that he is a great actor and he chooses great roles, So I hope that something twisted happens here. This drama better have a twist or something that will make it worth watching.